Under Lock and Key
by PetalQuartzdove
Summary: Humanstuck. When Eridan Ampora, the outcast of his high school, 18 years old and senior year, begins to lose his sanity and voices telling him to destory invade his mind, he snaps and releases his anger on Sollux and Feferi. Then, from this, he is locked away in a mental hospital. Will he be able to return to his same old self or will he lose his sanity forever? WARNING: VIOLENCE
1. Chapter 1

Eridan sat in class, biting his lip a little bit and tapping his foot, full of anxiety. Once he heard the very familiar sound of the bell to go to the next class, he got up and bolted like a rocket that was just ignited. Today was different than the norm. Last night, he had terrible nightmares of strange taunting voices chasing him in his head, which followed him into the waking world. The screaming voices filled his mind, slowly wittleing down all hope he had before, which was slim. Eridan was constantly teased for his appearance, his accent, his behavior, anything anybody can even think of, the bullies would twist it around. What is worse, his best friend who he wanted to be in a relationship with denied him and went to be with a boy who he DESPISED, and she acted like their friendship never existed and like he was no more than a pathetic loser.

Eridan approached a very familiar location, Feferi's locker. As predicted, Feferi stood next to it, chatting away to Sollux. As soon as Eridan had drawn near, Sollux walked in between the two, almost like a protective way. "Look who the cat dragged in. What do you want, athhole?" Sollux lisped. Eridan's hands balled to fist but said nothing. Then, the voices began to scream in his head decided to scream in his head even louder than before. 'KILL HIM.' they screeched. 'GIVE HIM A TASTE OF HIS OWN MEDICINE.'

Eridan's knees buckled, feeling weak and almost falling to the tiled ground, shaking. Feferi's eyes locked to Eridan. "Sollux...are you using your-" Feferi began before Sollux inturrupted. "Thh, don't talk about that. I'm not doing it! He'th probably faking to get attenti-" before he could continue, Eridan grabbed ahold of Sollux's head, slamming him hard into the closest locker. Students gathered around like vultures to the sound of bloodshed, and the hallways became stampedes of running to the location.

Sollux, trying to stay standing, failed miserably and slunk down to the ground, blood leaking from his head. Feferi, mortified, stood there paralyzed with fear. "E-Eridan...no...why?!" Eridan glared at her. "Are you afraid of me?" Feferi began to back up a bit. "No! Of course not! W-W-W-Why would you say that, Eri?" Eridan screamed out, no longer in control of his own actions, "You are a DIRTY FUCKING LIAR!" and grabbed her, kicking her down. He grabbed her neck with extreme force, lifting her into the air. Feferi struggled, running out of oxygen and her lungs suffering. She tried to form words as her face and all of her skin gained a red tint.

He began to bang her head into the locker, gaining force every time he did so. The school's faculty came running, trying to force him off of her, and not seeing them coming, Eridan let go and Feferi fell to the ground, limp. She was unconcious and the nurse came running with assistants and carried the two injured away. All of the staff there tried to hold Eridan down, Eridan screaming and halucinating. All of a sudden, the walls and floor were nothing but a black hole and the people around him were nothing more than black globs of monsters grabbing at his shirt and arms. "Let go of me! LET ME GO, MONSTERS!" In reality, Eridan lay on the ground twitching in terror and lost consciousness.

When he woke up, he was in a bland looking white room with padding on it. He realized he couldn't move his arms. He screamed out and a nurse came in. "Shh, shh, shh. It's okay. You're okay." Eridan glanced up to meet eyes with her. He had then realized the familiar feeling of big clunky glasses on his face were gone, as well as the scarf on his neck revealing self harm scars and his cape. "Where...am I?" The nurse was short with round glasses and long black hair. "You're in Victory Recovery Hospital. You're Eridan Ampora, right?" Eridan tried to nod but was restrained by his newly attained jacket.

"I'm Jade Harley, and I'm your nurse. Your other staff caring for you while you are staying here are Miss Rose Lalonde, your therapist, and Dr. John Egbert, your psychiatrist. Any questions?" Eridan, sarcasticly rolled his eyes and said. "Oh, I don't know...how about...WHY IN THE FUCK AM I HERE?!" raising his voice in the last part. Jade pursed her lips and noted, "Jeesh, please keep your voice down and keep swearing at a minimum. You're here because you've put two people in the hospital. The therapist predicts homicidal thoughts and likely depression, seeing since you have three big gashes on your neck, one down your leg and one huge one on your wrist." Eridan began to shudder, the voices returning to him. "I-I...ugh..." he began to shake. Jade, stricken with panic, called down the hall for Rose. When she would peer back he'd be off to sleep.

When Eridan's eyes fluttered open once more, a girl with short blonde hair sat next to him in a different room. "What happened now?" he muttered, still not completely sure of his whereabouts and god damn it he was still in a straightjacket. "I'm not like some brutal murderer, I don't have to wear this thing!" he stated. Rose smiled over at him. "That's what I tried to tell the doctor. My name is Rose Lalonde, your therapist. I assume you've heard of me?" Eridan nodded, still restrained to do so. "I'm Eridan." Eridan muttered quietly. Rose, in her office chair, pushed herself to roll towards a folder, searching through and reading things before returning to face him. "So Eridan, tell me something. How did you obtain those scratches?" Eridan remained quiet. Rose looked into his amethyst eyes, her almost hypnotizing violet eyes calming him. "Please, trust me. All of this is between us, I only have to tell the doctor. That's all." Eridan tried not to crack, but he couldn't help but let himself be pried open by those beautiful violet orbs.

Eridan then burst about all of his troubles. He went on about his relationship with Feferi and how it felt like he was being used and the bullies, as well as Sollux. He also went on how the people that he actually talked to thought he was just an arrogant sulking asshole and that nobody liked him and how he was all alone. He said how he hated the human race more than anything and has always wanted to destroy the world. Then, he got to the voices. As soon as she explained them, Rose's before mostly optomistic demeanor began to wane. "I am so sorry you had to go through that, Eridan." Eridan didn't even notice that he was crying. "All of those people can't reach you here though. They won't get to you here. You're not some arrogant sulking freak here. You're more than that, and you always have been." Eridan, still sobbing, muffled, "Thank you, Miss Lalonde." Rose reached over and pushed the hair out of his face. "Please, call me Rose." Eridan replied, "Okay Rose. You don't think I'm just some insane murderer, am I?" Rose frowned before stating, "Eridan, you're not a murderer. Sollux Captor and Feferi Peixes are not dead. They are being taken care of in our sister hospital, Vista. Don't worry, they'll be taken good care of."

Eridan tried to even out his breathing, but his voice came out ragged and shakey. Rose gently put the palm of her hand on Eridan's cheek. "All I ever wanted was a friend. Someone who wouldn't think of me as a creep, freak, weird, stupid...I just wanted to belong." Rose smiled sadly at him. "I know, you poor thing. But soon, you'll be able to meet the other occupants. I'm sure there are some you'll befriend. First we have to convince Dr. Egbert that your voices won't control your actions like when all that happened at your school." Sniffling, Eridan tried to cease the waterfall of tears cascadeing from his eyes. Rose grabbed a tissue and whiped tears out of his eyes for him, since Eridan was unable to. Eridan told her, "Thank you, Rose. You have no idea how much I appreciate your kindness." Rose then glanced to a small clock on her desk. "Oh, I do believe our time is up, Eridan. Do you want me to escort you to your room, or shall Jade?" Eridan murmered a simple "You, please." and Rose's smile grew and she stood from her office chair and put her arm around Eridan, making sure he doesn't trip, guiding him back to room 311, where he stayed.

Once Eridan was at his door, he stayed still for a moment before entering and Rose waved before going to shut the door but Eridan rose his voice and said a sharp "Wait!" and Rose paused. "Yes?" Eridan's legs began to quiver. "Please, don't leave me alone in here!" Rose sighed and assured him, "Jade will check on you every fifteen minutes. You won't be alone. I'll see you later on, Eridan." Rose waved and closed the door shut, locking it tight. "ROSE!" Eridan yelled, but she was unable to hear him. Eridan began to hear voices shouting at him to stab and hit anything, but he wasn't able to, even if he wanted to.

The next morning, Eridan wasn't the same. Jade walked in, grinning. "Good morning, sleepyhead! I'm here to take your vitals." Jade carted in a machine on a pole, holding a blood pressure cuff. "I'm going to undo your jacket a bit..." Eridan remained silent, and Jade opened it up a little, helping his likely asleep arm out of it, having it held out so she could slide the cuff on, and began to take his blood pressure. "G-Good morning." he stuttered. "Once you're done with...whatever it is your doing, I need to continue working on my doomsday machine. Did the rest of the parts come yet?" Jade, who was in the middle of taking off the cuff, froze up, shocked at his sudden delusions. "Oh...um...none yet, Eridan." Eridan nodded. "Oh, I see. I understand, these things can be really slow when arriving here. They are imported after all. So...Jade, would you like to go on a date?" Jade's eyes went wide. "Er...no. I'm just going to go and tell Rose about your statistics..." Jade calmly left, taking the machinery and closing the door. Once she closed the door however, she ran to Rose, explaining what had happened.

Eridan slipped out of bed, looking around the room. "What a change from my labratory." he murmered to himself, then going to the window. Eridan heard a knock at the door and spun around, Rose opening it then closing it behind her. "Hello, Eridan. I heard about you wondering about your...doomsday device parts not being here." Eridan nodded. "They should have been here by now. I want to finish my device so I can start my genocide." Rose hummed to herself. "Mmhmm. I see. And I heard you asked Jade out on a date. Even though you're eighteen and a senior in high school still." Eridan tipped his head to the side. "Did I?" Rose looked a bit concerned. "That is what Jade said, yes." Eridan shrugged against his restraints. "Odd. Anyhow, Rose, what brings you here?"

Rose chuckled nervously before answering, "Eridan, what do you remember from yesterday?" Eridan pondered it for a while before answering, "I met you and Jade. Stared at the walls. That's it." Rose then asked, "Were you making your device the other day?" Eridan scoffed, "I would, if I had my parts!" Rose let out another sigh. "Sit down, Eridan." Eridan went over and sit down on one of the beds. Rose continued, "You didn't mention anything about these parts the other day...can you tell me why that is?" Eridan responded, "Well, I was moved to this place, so I was a bit disoriented." Rose nodded. "Well, today you get to meet Dr. Egbert! Hopefully your parts will get here soon..."

Eridan then had a confused look on his face. "What 'parts'?" Rose sighed. "Looks like you have a multiple personality issue." Eridan's confusion only grew, not remembering saying anything about 'parts' even though he had said it only a minute ago. Eridan pondered to himself, _Am I going mad? Was I already mad before this?! _Eridan, losing his grip on reality, mumbled, "No, no, no, no, no... I'm not losing it. Not now. I can't. I'm too young to go crazy." Rose tried to make eye contact with him, having to force his chin up for him to look at her. "You are not going crazy. We're going to help you get yourself together." Eridan nodded, and Rose released her grip. Eridan then asked, "How much do you know about me?" Rose smiled at him and said, "We have all of your records, like age, date of birth, etc." Eridan then asked, "How old are you? I mean you look really young." Rose chuckled. "Well I'm flattered. I'm twenty two. But this is a bit off topic, huh?" Eridan found himself in a mixture of chuckling along and crying from all of the stress on him.

Rose then collected the different files she had and turned to the door. "The Doctor will see you in just a moment." Rose walked out, and Eridan remembered that his hand was freed from when he was having his blood pressure taken. Jade didn't remember to refasten it. Rose jumped and goosebumps formed on her skin when Eridan took her hand. As soon as he felt the familiar texture of skin, the voices returned, telling him to harm her, but Eridan couldn't. "E-Eridan? What are you doing?" Eridan's face began to get red. "Y-You're...basically my only friend Rose. And you're really beautiful and-" while Eridan was rambling on, a bunch of security staff in white coats ran in and forced Eridan to let go of Rose. "No! I didn't...NO! I DIDN'T HURT HER! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Eridan screamed out as they refastened the straight jacket and strapped him into bed. The security staff then began to apologize to Rose, and Rose of course brushed it off. Before exiting with them, Rose gave Eridan a glance, knowing Eridan didn't want to hurt her.

Eridan passed out, and dreamt only of death. Death all around him. Rose's death, Jade's death, Feferi's death mostly and Sollux's. He could see lots of blood on his hands in the dreams, making him think it was all because of him. At the end of the dream, he stood on top of the hospital and jumped, the fall being slow motion. As soon as he hit the street below, he jerked awake and let out a yelp. Dr. Egbert entered the room and gave Eridan a cheery smile. "Hello, Eridan. I'm Dr. Egbert, but you can call me John if you'd like." Eridan only gave unintelligable mumbles in response. "Well, Eridan. I heard you've been having some audio hallucinations lately." Eridan responded with a small "What?" in response. John chuckled and noted, "You've been hearing things that others don't hear. And that's perfectly fine. And I-" the two heard a pager go off in his labcoat pocket. He checked it and his once cheery demeanor became a frown. "What?" Eridan asked, impatient. John looked over at him and merely said, "Feferi Peixes is dead."

**I know I'm really bad with adding chapters to things, but I AM GOING TO TRY MY BEST.**

**Eridan: wwhy the fuck am i a psycho in this?**

**Because reasons.**

**Eridan: ...wwhatevver i dont givve a fuck.**

**I HOPE YOU ENJOYED!**


	2. Chapter 2

Eridan began to tremble with the strength of an earthquake from the words of the doctor. It only took four words to make him a complete mess. He tried to speak but what came out were little squeaks and noises, and tears began to pour. John merely jotted some words down on a clipboard and when he looked up, Eridan was struggling to free himself from the bed he was strapped to. John raised his voice sharply, saying a stern "Stop." and Eridan paused the struggle. "I received some information of what has been happening from Rose. The symptoms correspond to a list of things, but I'm not sure what to diagnose quite yet." Eridan scoffed, still shaking, stating, "Yeah, I know what it is. I'm crazy. Everyone thinks I am. That's why I'm trapped in a fucking padded cell wearing a straightjacket." John rolled his eyes. "Don't make this more difficult than it needs to be. We don't want you to hurt yourself or others, that's why." Eridan, blood boiling from anger, shouted, "I wasn't going to hurt ANYONE!" John merely added, "You killed Feferi Peixes and blinded Sollux Captor." He began to scribble again and Eridan let loose an agitated groan. "We just need to make sure you aren't a danger to yourself or anybody else here." Eridan raised his voice once more into a yell and yelled, "Of course! I'm a BIG _FUCKING_ DANGEROUS **BEAST**!"

Two security officers entered the room again, standing by a wall and waiting for him to do anything 'wrong'. Eridan's whole body shook violently from anger at John and at himself for killing his used to be best friend and crush. Eridan screamed loudly and sobbed. John remained silent and jotted more words down. Eridan yelled, "You don't care about me! None of you do! Jade doesn't, the security doesn't, YOU, Dr. Egbert, couldn't give LESS of a shit, and R-" before he could finish, he remembered how Rose looked when he explained what has been going on to him. How she whiped away his tears, and how he knew that she knew...she _knew_ that he didn't want to hurt her. Eridan was now the quiet one. John put his clipboard under his arm.  
"That's enough for one day. Equius, Gamzee, I'd like you two to stay here and watch over him." he spoke to the security gaurds. "Oh and, Equius, make sure Gamzee doesn't mess things up. Again." Equius bowed, quietly saying, "Yes, sir." Gamzee seemed to be spacing out and John left the room, the sound of the door closing brought Gamzee out of his haze and he jumped, emmiting a loud honk. Equius brought the palm of his hand to his face, ashamed of the new security officer that was his partner.

Eridan stared at the ceiling, eyes red from crying so much recently. Gamzee walked up to his bed. "HeEeEeEeEey, buddy." he said. Eridan just scoffed and said, "What the hell do you want? Gamzee chuckled and said, "Aww, bro, don't be like that! Don't you worry, Dr. Egbert's gonna fix you the motherfuck up." Eridan grit his teeth and exclaimed, "Did I ever say I was broken?!" Gamzee honked his clown horn he carried with him and replied, "Nah, bro. But Dr. Egbert's the man, man. He'll make you feel much better, you hear?" Eridan averted his eyes from the clown, unable to actually move his head away, remaining silent. "Man, why do you have to be like that? I'm just trying to start a simple motherfuckin' conversation." Equius approached them. "Gamzee, please. Try not to speak with the patient."

Gamzee turned to face Equius and frowned. "Why not? He's funny." Equius sighed and stated, "He is not funny. He is a patient in this fine establisment and must not be disturbed. Please forgive me, Eridan. Pay us no mind." Eridan grunted in response, staring at the wall. What was this supposed to do to help him!? Just staring into nothingness is not treatment, it's torture! Jade knocked on the door and opened it. "Knock knock! It's time for lunch, Eridan! I'll show you to the dining room. Gentlemen, if you will?" Equius nodded and released the binds from Eridan, leaving him in his jacket, but adjusting it to allow movement of the legs. "How the fuck am I supposed to eat like this?!" Jade merely noted, "We help you." Eridan glared. "Are you serious?! I'm supposed to try to make fuckin' friends, how am I supposed to make friends with these assholes if I'm being fed like a baby?!" Jade pat him on the back. "Relax. It'll be fine." Eridan was escorted out to a room with a group of people sitting at a large table. Eridan sat down, looking to them. Jade grinned and said, "Everybody, this is Eridan. Eridan, when introducing, tell your name, age, and illness." Eridan stayed quiet, mumbling "This is bullshit." Jade frowned. "Eridan, either behave or go back to your room." Eridan rolled his eyes and muttered, "Eridan Ampora, 18, and I don't even fuckin' know because Dr. Egdumbass hasn't diagnosed me yet." Jade raised her voice a bit, "Eridan, last chance." Jade pointed to a girl with long black locks of hair.

"My name is Aradia Megido. I am seventeen. And I am dead." Jade gave her a look and cleared her throught. "Ahem~!" Aradia sighed and said, "I 'falsely believe' that I am dead." She looked over to a boy not sitting at a bench at the table but at the end in a wheelchair. "U-Uh...Um...I'm Tavros N-N-Nitram. I'm sevent-t-t-teen...and I have a-a-a-anthropophobia, which is...um...fear of people." Jade gave Tavros a round of applause. "That's the best you've ever done! Good job!" Tavros cracked a small smile and looked to the boy sitting next to Aradia, tapping his foot at the speed of a rabbit. "Karkat. Seventeen. REAL. I'M REAL. EVERYONE ELSE IS FAKE. SIX NINE, SIX NINE, I KNOW THE CODE. SIX NINE. SIX NINE. JESUS HELP ME." Equius and Gamzee then collected Karkat, returning him to his room. Jade cleared her throught and stated, "He's a paranoid schizophrenic. Next?" A girl sat there, digging her nails into the table and giggling. "Ahaa...ha...ha.. I'm Nepeta, I'm sixteen and I'm...I don't know. What did you say it was again, Miss Jade?" Jade rolled her eyes, annoyed. "Lack of morality." Nepeta added on, "What she said!" Another girl spoke up, "I'm Kanaya. I'm seventeen and I am anorexic."

Kanaya glanced over to a girl that was giggling in a very insane way. "I'm Terezi Pyrope, seventeen, and I can smell what other people can't smell. Also, Nepeta is my best friend." Nepeta and Terezi then proceeded to do a special handshake under the table. A girl with silver glasses and a devious smile went next. "IIIIIIII am Vriska Serket and I am seventeen. People say I have OCD, but they are just-" Jade inturrupted. "Okay! That's almost everyone. The two other new people who just arrived are still in their rooms. You will meet them at dinner time. It's time for group therapy!" Vriska spoke up once more. "Oh, joy, ooooooooh rapture, nobody gives a shit." Eridan began to notice a pattern with Vriska. She would always speak in eights. Sometimes eight letters, always eight words per sentence. They left the dining room and entered a small lounge room with a television, four couches, a coffee table, and a large chair. Rose entered the room as well and sat down at the larger chair. Eridan ended up sitting next to Nepeta, Terezi, Karkat (he was dragged out at the last minute), and Tavros, who wheeled himself next to a couch but was dragged over by Vriska. Eridan couldn't help but notice how Vriska kept whispering in an aggressive tone to Tavros, but he was too intimidated to move away. Nepeta and Terezi sat right next to each other and giggled. Wait...were they holding hands? Then, he noticed Vriska giving flirty eyes to Kanaya, which Kanaya returned with a small chuckle and waving her fingers in an equally flirty way. _Oh Jesus. Some hospital this turned out to be. Everybody's hooking up! _

Eridan barely listened to Rose as she did her main therapy segment. It didn't much apply to him at all. She explained about ways to keep a positive outlook, though Eridan had tried many of those methods before and they didn't end up working. "Does anybody want to add anything?" Tavros began to raise his hand but Vriska grabbed his shoulder, digging her nails in. This time, Rose took notice. "Vriska, let go." Vriska looked around the room then let go of Tavros's shoulder. Tavros raised his hand and Rose pointed to him. "Go ahead, the floor is yours." Tavros stuttered for a moment before saying. "M-Miss Lalonde, uh...what if you've had a really bad day and these, um, don't work out?" Rose smiled sincerely and answered, "There is always something. There are things that trigger negative emotions and positive in all of us. You just need to find out the right thing that helps you." Tavros, smile growing, responded with a quiet "Thank you." Eridan thought about her words. He just needed to find a positive trigger. His positive trigger was Feferi until it changed into a negative one. Now she's more negative than before, and dead. All of a sudden, the room changed to a black hole once more. He let out a scream and flailed. The whole room became a huge dark hole which threatened to engulf him. In reality, he was shaking like a leaf in his chair, flailing around. Rose quickly stood and touched his face. "Eridan! Eridan, come back to us! It's not real!" Eridan barely heard the echos of Rose's voice and returned to reality. "What...happened?" he asked. "This place...i-it became..." The rest of the patients stared at him. Vriska chuckled under her breath, trying to force other people into laughing. Rose shot everybody a look. "Alright. Show's over. Equius, could you please help Eridan back to his room? I'll be along in a moment. Let Dave take over." Before Eridan knew what was going on, he was being lead back to his room, strapped down yet again and left in there for who knows how long.


End file.
